pretreating Hydrotron

[blink_inc]

Am i soaking it in PH adjust water to 5.5 just like rockwool or is ther something more to it?

blink_inc Reviewed by blink_inc on 11-26-2008. pretreating Hydrotron Am i soaking it in PH adjust water to 5.5 just like rockwool or is ther something more to it? Rating: 5

[stinkyattic]

Nope, but I just set mine to 6.0 and call it good.
After harvest, shake the HT out of the root balls as best you can before the root balls start to dry, rot, or otherwise disintegrate, and soak your HT in a tub of 6.0 water with some Cannazyme and an air stone for a week, mixing occasionally, then drain, rinse, and soak once more in fresh 6.0 water for a few more hours before use.

[Big len]

Darn stinky I just treated mine to a little bleach about a shot full in water for about a week drained resoaked couple hrs. plain old water seems to work for me. let dry and away we go.
Big Len

[blink_inc]

soaking right now in 6.0 adjusted tap water.

No airstone in the soaking tub.

How long should I be saoking for? 48 hours I figure would be safe...

(Brand new to hydro, running 8 bubblers)

[Weedhound]

until it consistently reads a ph of where you set it. Check and adjust often, hydroton WILL keep raising your ph over several hours.

I hate hydroton.

[daihashi]

soaking right now in 6.0 adjusted tap water.

No airstone in the soaking tub.

How long should I be saoking for? 48 hours I figure would be safe...

(Brand new to hydro, running 8 bubblers)

I recently pretreated hydrotron and I couldn't get a stable reading until I had it running in my system for a few days. Even with the presoaking and presoaking again.

3 days of running it in the system and constantly staying on top of the PH adjustment has given me a PH that has been steady for at least 24 hours at a time now. Then again there's only 2 pots in my system right now. I'm about to put 4 more pots in there and add even more on Tuesday when the hydro shop opens and I can buy more pots/hydrotron.

[Weedhound]

I recently pretreated hydrotron and I couldn't get a stable reading until I had it running in my system for a few days. Even with the presoaking and presoaking again.

3 days of running it in the system and constantly staying on top of the PH adjustment has given me a PH that has been steady for at least 24 hours at a time now. Then again there's only 2 pots in my system right now. I'm about to put 4 more pots in there and add even more on Tuesday when the hydro shop opens and I can buy more pots/hydrotron.

You just pinned exactly why I hate hydroton. Never mind the coco puff effect.....the amount of time and energy wasted on 1) pretreating the crap FOREVER and 2) the amount of time you waste on plant growth for the first week or so until your h-ton FINALLY stabilizes. I had babies 2 and 3 weeks old that were growing slower than molassas in January due to a constantly unstable ph.

[daihashi]

You just pinned exactly why I hate hydroton. Never mind the coco puff effect.....the amount of time and energy wasted on 1) pretreating the crap FOREVER and 2) the amount of time you waste on plant growth for the first week or so until your h-ton FINALLY stabilizes. I had babies 2 and 3 weeks old that were growing slower than molassas in January due to a constantly unstable ph.

What is the coco puff effect?

But yes I agree with what a PITA it is to get hydrotron dialed in. If I find it to be a hassle I'm going to build a pair of PH dosers for my 2 resevoirs to automatically adjust the PH for me. Hell I might do it anyway. It would allow me to be able to allow the plants to basically run on auto pilot for at least a week at a time.

[Weedhound]

The coco puff effect is twofold......the balls are very light and they are round.......drop your bucket and your plant is usually done for since there is absolutely NO stability to hydroton. It does not hold roots very securely imo and the fact that they roll everywhere (if you drop them) they are a complete PITA to deal with. Also becase of their airy nature they tend to "hold onto" extra nutes and salt allowing more overfert/salt buildup issues than I liked.

There are few pluses to hydroton....it's very light and seems to resist algae well but I NEVER reuse my media....no matter what it is......so the pros of h-ton come in WAY under the cons.

Hope this still falls under blink's q.......otherwise sorry for the threadjack.

[daihashi]

The coco puff effect is twofold......the balls are very light and they are round.......drop your bucket and your plant is usually done for since there is absolutely NO stability to hydroton. It does not hold roots very securely imo and the fact that they roll everywhere (if you drop them) they are a complete PITA to deal with. Also becase of their airy nature they tend to "hold onto" extra nutes and salt allowing more overfert/salt buildup issues than I liked.

There are few pluses to hydroton....it's very light and seems to resist algae well but I NEVER reuse my media....no matter what it is......so the pros of h-ton come in WAY under the cons.

Hope this still falls under blink's q.......otherwise sorry for the threadjack.

Ahh.. I see, I went to hydrotron because it was a reusable medium. I bet after a few grows the hydrotron is probably stable from a long life sitting in hydro PH range; but I can definitely see the coco puff effect being an issue with pretty much no weight to hold the plant in place.